New research from the USA shows that shoppers are now almost evenly split on whether they shop online or in stores. The research was recently published in eMarketer and shows that over the recent holiday season, American shoppers were split with 45% preferring online, 52% preferring physical stores, and 4% preferring mobile.
This is interesting for a number of reasons and reflects the fact that shoppers who use multiple channels are generally more profitable for retailers. In fact, 59% of American retailers have documented proof showing that their multichannel shoppers are more valuable than those who only ever use a single channel.
I think this indicates that we are reaching a tipping point in customer expectations. The fact that the preference is almost exactly half online or mobile and half physical store shows that retailers need to make both channels work really well.
A major issue that still makes it difficult to deliver a comparable online and offline service is the fact that customers entering a store are anonymous. More and more, retailers are going to want customers to somehow ‘check-in’ and indicate their presence so their in-store experience can be personalised.
There are some different ways to achieve this:
In general, customers are willing to be identified if the retailer offers them an improved service – such as no checkout lines – or offers and recommendations. Customers are getting used to a highly personal online shopping experience and it’s difficult to replicate that in-store.
With half of shoppers now preferring online and half in-store, it’s getting more important than ever to get this right. Have you seen examples of companies getting omni-channel right? Leave a comment below, or get in touch on LinkedIn, and let me know.
In this second column, François Duranton, CEO of ZeTrace, compares the Marketplace and Drop Shipping approaches. He recommends considering hybridization to face up to the new challenges of expansion of the product offering in B2B distribution. There are three models for massive expansion of the product offering, as we saw in the note on the limits of the Marketplace model for Global Account...
ReadThe Webhelp Group announces the acquisition of PitechPlus, a Romanian company that designs, develops and deploys custom - made software solutions, particularly in the areas of sales digitalization and process automation. PitechPlus already supports major European companies in their digital strategy...
ReadWebhelp rings in its next phase of strategic development with new brand Paris-headquartered Webhelp, the European leader in customer experience and business solutions, today revealed its revamped brand platform, supported by an updated visual identity. The group’s new brand reunites the...
ReadOur 11th edition of The HUB is here! In this edition, we give you insights about the new generation – Gen Z who are not only game changers but also a force to reckon with. And is data collection a friend or foe? Under this question lays the bedrock of our relationship with data collection which...
Read...
ReadStrictly Necessary Cookies
The website requires the use of cookies for essential functional requirements and these are outlined in the cookies policy.
Enhanced Functional Cookies
Some features of this website use services provided by third parties websites. These features use cookies to implement their services on this website and may collect data about your visit to help them optimize their functionality. The Webhelp cookies policy outlines the cookies used by these services.